NEW
BERLIN — An undercover investigation into a New Berlin massage
parlor allegedly has revealed that employees were performing sexual
acts on clients in addition to massages.

Asian
Massage Reflexology owner Jing Zhang was charged Friday with keeping a
place of prostitution and may face up to six years in prison if
convicted, court records indicate.

In
May of 2016, investigators discovered an online advertisement for the
business, which offered “wonderful services for nice Asian and
Japanese, young sweet and friendly girls,” as well as “new hot
girls that change every two weeks, VIP rooms, table showers, and body
rubs,” according to a Waukesha County Circuit Court criminal
complaint.

Between
May of 2016 and March of 2017, a detective gathered information from
various departments who had been investigating similar illicit massage
parlors in West Allis, Franklin, Waukesha, Green Bay and Appleton, as
well as Asian Massage Reflexology, 13827 W. Greenfield Ave.

In
April and August of 2017, a confidential informant visited Asian
Massage Reflexology where, during his massage, he was allegedly
prompted to touch the masseuse inappropriately, while on another
occasion, the masseuse inappropriately touched the informant as he was
putting his clothes on, the complaint said.

A
confidential informant then returned to the business on two more
occasions and reported similar experiences. On the last occasion, the
masseuse “attempted to negotiate an upcharge from the $60 that had
been originally agreed upon,” according to the criminal complaint.

On
the three dates where the confidential informant attended the massage
parlor, Zhang’s vehicle was parked in the parking lot. In December
of 2017, authorities executed a search warrant at the business and
found Zhang in a room with a male client.

The
client told authorities that “he had been to the business about five
times and that he had obtained” a sexual favor “on three prior
occasions, at least two of those times” from Zhang, according to the
complaint.

Search
warrant

Prior
to the execution of the search warrant but after an employee allegedly
performed sex acts on the confidential informant, local authorities
pulled Zhang over on West Greenfield Avenue for a defective license
plate lamp and right brake light.

Zhang,
who’s from Chicago, allegedly told authorities that she was on her
way to Chicago to get her phone fixed. The officer on scene reported
that Zhang appeared nervous and had no explanation as to why she was
using Greenfield Avenue to get to Chicago instead of Interstate 94.

The
officer on scene ran Zhang’s criminal history and noted that she had
multiple prior entries for prostitution from both Wisconsin and
Indiana. The officer was concerned that Zhang was transporting drugs
to Chicago, so he executed a canine search.

After
conducting a search on the vehicle, authorities discovered several
bundles of cash worth a total of $8,495, but the criminal complaint
makes no mention of any drugs found in the vehicle. When asked who
really ran the massage parlor, Zhang said a guy named Richard Riley
runs the business from California. Zhang then called Riley and passed
the phone to a detective who was informed by Riley that he lives in
Santa Ana and that Zhang runs the salon for him, adding that he
authorized Zhang to use the $8,495 for new massage tables, according
to the criminal complaint.

Zhang
is scheduled for an initial court appearance at 8:15 a.m. March 4.